This is their job ,I have heard many such comments and complaints about the cruise from other bands.5 wasted days from guys in Dragonforce because you can't do anything,also being around people that was commented upon.I saw someone in the Facebook group complaining that bands should not stay in their room the whole cruise but many people enjoy the down time and don't want to be around people.

I guess we can pretty much rule out Dark Angel for... ever... I'm surprised too. I've seen mostly positive feedback from most musicians... some absolutely love the experience. Even Alex Skolnick... I read a blog from him after the first cruise. He was very very apprehensive when they signed on for it, but loved the experience.

I guess we can pretty much rule out Dark Angel for... ever... I'm surprised too. I've seen mostly positive feedback from most musicians... some absolutely love the experience. Even Alex Skolnick... I read a blog from him after the first cruise. He was very very apprehensive when they signed on for it, but loved the experience.

Not necessarily; he was on last year with Testament, so we know he doesn't outright refuse to play the boat. Its still possible that he'll be on with Dark Angel, evon if he doesn't enjoy the isolation from the rest of the world.

I guess we can pretty much rule out Dark Angel for... ever... I'm surprised too. I've seen mostly positive feedback from most musicians... some absolutely love the experience. Even Alex Skolnick... I read a blog from him after the first cruise. He was very very apprehensive when they signed on for it, but loved the experience.

Not necessarily; he was on last year with Testament, so we know he doesn't outright refuse to play the boat. Its still possible that he'll be on with Dark Angel, evon if he doesn't enjoy the isolation from the rest of the world.

I know he was on the past cruise, but he is a hired hand in Testament. Dark Angel is his band, so I think he has a little more pull there. It wasn't a passing comment, he called out the cruise (almost immediately) as the worst part of touring he could think of. I wouldn't count on Dark Angel.

Huh, if it was THAT much of a concern he could put a rider in their 70K contract requiring that their phone call fees and internet charges be waived. Cruise lines CAN do stuff like that. They usually waive internet fees onbroad when a cruise has its itinerary changed and passengers have to make new travel arrangements.

deathmetalpat wrote:Next band announcement would be around December 22nd if UMC follows last year's hanging leak magazine pattern,Public Sales should start October 26th with pay in full option only for newbies.

In exactly 5 months you and 2999 other Metalheads from around the World will be onbroard 70000TONS OF METAL 2018, sailing onbroad the Independence of the Seas from Florida to Grand Turk!With 60 international Heavy Metal bands, 4 stages including The World’s Biggest Open Air Stage Structure to Sail the Seas, and 3000 metalheads from around the globe enjoying 22 Bars, over 10 dining venues, and 6 whirlpools – two of which overlook the ocean – this truly is a festival experience like no other!

The Twitter account has never been more active (last 6 months) ,I imagine Facebook is similar.I have gotten 6 notifications within the last 24 hours of Twitter posts.At one time you could use this as a band announcement notice (basically all they tweeted) but now not so much.Basically forum is dead not 70k.

I have to say, the people who respond to comments on behalf of 70K on Facebook are top-notch.They respond to frustration with compassion, enthusiasm, and humor.I'm still laughing about the reply to a guy joking he would kill himself waiting for the public sales: "don't do it man, we need you on board! "

deathmetalpat wrote:The Twitter account has never been more active (last 6 months) ,I imagine Facebook is similar.I have gotten 6 notifications within the last 24 hours of Twitter posts.At one time you could use this as a band announcement notice (basically all they tweeted) but now not so much.Basically forum is dead not 70k.

My personal advice: 95% of what's posted on the Twitter account is completely useless, if not more. And Facebook...looks like one day I will have to finally create an account for this shit, but the more I can stay away from it, the better.

deathmetalpat wrote:The Twitter account has never been more active (last 6 months) ,I imagine Facebook is similar.I have gotten 6 notifications within the last 24 hours of Twitter posts.At one time you could use this as a band announcement notice (basically all they tweeted) but now not so much.Basically forum is dead not 70k.

My personal advice: 95% of what's posted on the Twitter account is completely useless, if not more. And Facebook...looks like one day I will have to finally create an account for this shit, but the more I can stay away from it, the better.

Eh, mixed bag. Forum still gets band announcements first, but the Facebook page posts regularly about cruise-adjacent things. Whoever runs the 70000tons page does respond to comments a lot of the time though, which is refreshing.

Serious question: Turks and Caicos is in the dead center of the path of hurricane Irma, and it's expected to still be a category 5 by the time it hits there. Has there been any information posted in regards to what would happen to the cruise if the island is severely damaged by the storm? Will it be canceled, or moved to an alternate destination? Last year there were a couple bands onboard collecting earthquake relief donations for Haiti, and it seems like something similar may be in order this year if the cruise goes on as planned. It would be really awesome to see UMC do something official in that sense, regardless of whether the cruise still goes to its planned destination.

T&C is mostly a tourist destination. Their population is 35,000, and depends a lot on tourist money. Don't underestimate their ability to rebuild quickly. Hopefully the World will help with much needed monetary relief!

6 Time Vet!Wishlist--Accept,GRIMREAPER!!!,WASP,ArmoredSaint,DioDisciples,Loudness,DangerousToys,Triumph.Scorpions,UDO,SkullFIST,Striker,Kobra&theLotus,MorsPrincpiumEst,Exmortus,TheOrderofChaos,Diemonds For those who are sailing with us in honour

Kind of surprised there hasn't been much said about Ft.Lauderdale or turks here from UMC. Maybe too soon to get correct info regarding how well Turks made out from the storm.. I know it's a few months away, but could seriously change some plans.

Hope any cruisers that live in the affected areas are, or will be ok!!

6 Time Vet!Wishlist--Accept,GRIMREAPER!!!,WASP,ArmoredSaint,DioDisciples,Loudness,DangerousToys,Triumph.Scorpions,UDO,SkullFIST,Striker,Kobra&theLotus,MorsPrincpiumEst,Exmortus,TheOrderofChaos,Diemonds For those who are sailing with us in honour

Man that storm was rough. I feel like I spent the past week in and out of Lowes and outside putting up plywood over my windows. I worked myself to total physical exhaustion and now I'm sick on top of everything. Now that the storm has finally passed, it seems all my effort was warranted because my neighbors large tree fell down on top of my backyard fence and deck and nearly destroyed my kitchen window. The window didn't break because I boarded it up. I was standing right next to the window when the tree fell down too so I'm extra happy I took those precautions. I wasn't able to get enough plywood to board up my second floor windows but none of them broke during the storm anyway.

In Florida, 85% of Duke Energy customers are without power currently. I lucked out and had power throughout the storm. I guess living across the street from the power company is good in that regard.

As far as I know, all my cruiser friends are okay and didn't suffer any major damage.

After this horrible exhausting week, I could use a nice announcement. :)

Warphine wrote:In Florida, 85% of Duke Energy customers are without power currently. I lucked out and had power throughout the storm. I guess living across the street from the power company is good in that regard.

As far as I know, all my cruiser friends are okay and didn't suffer any major damage.

After this horrible exhausting week, I could use a nice announcement. :)

Glad you're okay dude! It's gonna be a while before the damage can be evaluated but I hope it's not too terrible throughout Florida.

Warphine wrote:Man that storm was rough. I feel like I spent the past week in and out of Lowes and outside putting up plywood over my windows. I worked myself to total physical exhaustion and now I'm sick on top of everything. Now that the storm has finally passed, it seems all my effort was warranted because my neighbors large tree fell down on top of my backyard fence and deck and nearly destroyed my kitchen window. The window didn't break because I boarded it up. I was standing right next to the window when the tree fell down too so I'm extra happy I took those precautions. I wasn't able to get enough plywood to board up my second floor windows but none of them broke during the storm anyway.

In Florida, 85% of Duke Energy customers are without power currently. I lucked out and had power throughout the storm. I guess living across the street from the power company is good in that regard.

As far as I know, all my cruiser friends are okay and didn't suffer any major damage.

After this horrible exhausting week, I could use a nice announcement. :)

Yea man, that last second east shift kinda screwed a lot of people but made us luck out haha. We have no power still but Stephs parents live right down the road and have power. We live to brew and drink another day!

Hollywood Beach has a Facebook photos page, and I posted a pic of the Riptide... The tiki hut part is pretty fubared, but the rest of the beach/boardwalk made out mostly ok--some damage to roofs, sliding, trees..

Now, it's time for Canadians to star complaining aboot how cold we get....

6 Time Vet!Wishlist--Accept,GRIMREAPER!!!,WASP,ArmoredSaint,DioDisciples,Loudness,DangerousToys,Triumph.Scorpions,UDO,SkullFIST,Striker,Kobra&theLotus,MorsPrincpiumEst,Exmortus,TheOrderofChaos,Diemonds For those who are sailing with us in honour

Hollywood Beach has a Facebook photos page, and I posted a pic of the Riptide... The tiki hut part is pretty fubared, but the rest of the beach/boardwalk made out mostly ok--some damage to roofs, sliding, trees..

Now, it's time for Canadians to star complaining aboot how cold we get....

We were talking to Jake at Progpower and I guess Vancouver has had a shit ton of wildfires. Give me power outages, give me cold, but don't take away my fresh air...well I guess depending on where you take that breath here it might be all reclaimed water smell but still!

I know you have to expect the unexpected with UMC, but this is getting just plain odd at this point, is it not? Almost to the 4 month mark with no mention of public sales? First timers will have limited selection and be forced to pay in full at booking.

I have to admit, all of it has toned down my excitement a bit in comparison to previous years. Last year at this time,I had a large cruise playlist that I listened to constantly and was exposed to lots of new and exciting bands. This year, it was like the whole thing started and then derailed before it even really took off. To be this close and to have only a third of the lineup and silence so quickly is a bit deflating.

That said, I'm still looking forward to an amazing time and love the lineup so far. Let's get on with it though!

Downvod wrote:I know you have to expect the unexpected with UMC, but this is getting just plain odd at this point, is it not? Almost to the 4 month mark with no mention of public sales? First timers will have limited selection and be forced to pay in full at booking.

That said, I'm still looking forward to an amazing time and love the lineup so far. Let's get on with it though!

In economics there is something called 'the law of diminishing return ' basically for the cruise it means selling the few cabins left is more of a pain then the money generated .I imagine from prior years that they know they can sell the rest of the cabins without much trouble ,even if they force people to pay in full.Also you understand this is a total gift to piror cruisers ,they still can book with discounts.Plus everybody at the UMC office does not have to deal with newbies .The 70k staff read Facebook comments was hilarious \ "come on you know how this works" /

deathmetalpat wrote:Also you understand this is a total gift to piror cruisers ,they still can book with discounts.Plus everybody at the UMC office does not have to deal with newbies .The 70k staff read Facebook comments was hilarious \ "come on you know how this works" /

The man has a point. It's incredibly entertaining and great for survivors who needed more time to get their ducks in a row.

I DO feel very bad for first time cruisers who finally have the chance to experience boat. Unless you know someone that has gone that can refer you to the 70k Facebook group, you don't stand a chance in hell right now.